Program control of a CPU, e.g. a in personal computer, is frequently driven by user inputs via a keyboard or other discrete input device. A key, sometimes called a button, or keypad, often has a preprinted number, letter or symbol appearing on it. This provides a user with an understanding of a function that the key is generally supposed to trigger.
A function of a key may vary according to the state of the CPU, also known as the context of the CPU. For example, pushing a key denoted as ‘Caps Lock’ on its surface, will trigger a toggling of a QWERTY keyboard between lower-case and upper-case keyboard input. Similarly, use of the ‘function’ key or ‘control’ key on modern personal computers causes keys to take on a myriad of functional abilities, depending on the program operating on the Personal Computer or PC.
In some cases of controlling a CPU, it is unnecessary to mark a key with any symbolic notation to indicate its purpose. This is most evident in many Automated Teller Machines (ATM). In such cases, the buttons are located adjacent to the display area such that when text appears adjacent to a given button, it is obvious, due to the proximity of the text to the button, what is the intended functionality of that button upon actuation. ATMs naturally, are very specific purpose machines, and so the arrangement of text to describe button functions varies according to a very predictable and limited program.
The category of hyperlink includes functional text, i.e. hypertext, or functional graphics. Each hyperlink has an associated function or hyperlink function. A hyperlink function may cause any change in the output or storage of any device operatively coupled to the CPU of the browser device. Hypertext is commonly used with the World Wide Web (WWW). Unlike ATMs, a functional text, or a graphic as found on the WWW, may appear anywhere on a display, and is seldom restricted to orderly columns or rows of presentation. More importantly, in a desktop environment, keys are so far from the display, that even if functional text or graphics were located at the periphery of the display, an average user might find it difficult to see a correlation between keys on a PC keyboard and displayed text or graphics.
Fortunately, many techniques for using pointing devices remove the need for such an arrangement. Even before mice were available, menus provided similar ability to call on functions. A menu, or submenu item, would have a precursor number, or letter, set apart from, or highlight within, functional text. A typical menu, once displayed, is operated in tandem with a input routine that permits a selection upon the occurrence of a single keystroke, wherein the selected function is denoted by the functional text of the menu item, and the operating key, by a single highlighted symbol therein.
The use of hypertext has become so advanced that today, routinely, hypertext is created in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML) and other markup languages such that displayed text, may operate as a doorway to additional functions by simply moving a cursor to the displayed text and clicking on it. Among the many features of HTML, when read by a compatible browser, is the ability to give hypertext a color of its own, to separate the text from non-functional text, and otherwise provide a pleasing color combination with other parts of a HTML page. The ability to specify the color of a link, within the HTML file, is done for aesthetic reasons so as to maintain a consistent theme through a family of HTML pages.
Among the features of WML, when read by a compatible browser, is the ability to identify a key, usually by the insignia printed on the key, that will operate to trigger the hyperlink associated with an anchor, see e.g. Wireless Application Protocol Wireless Markup Language Specification Version 1.3, © Wireless Application Protocol Forum, Ltd. 2000. Therein is specified as well, other input means including the select element, the option element and the input element. Unfortunately, for the WML language and others like it, there persists the need to highlight or otherwise correlate (sometimes with additional text) a hyperlink (or other input element) with symbols in use on common keyboards, or other character entry devices. Because of the scarcity of display real estate in many mobile devices, use of fewer pixels showing keypad controls provides an opportunity to squeeze a bit more data into the display.
In a situation of handheld computers, sometimes embedded in mobile stations, such as mobile phones, the ATM-like keys are known as soft-keys. Like the ATM, the soft-keys are mounted very close to a display surface, e.g. about ¼ inch. In contrast to a typical laptop—the nearest keys on an IBM® ThinkPad are about 1 ¼ inch away from a display surface. Even though the mobile station has a minimal distance, many people are unable to make the connection between the softkey and the intended function displayed nearby. In such instances, much of the functionality of the mobile phone is hidden from the person using the phone.
Because a mobile station is used frequently as a personal communication device, it has versatility not present in wired phones. Consequently, the mobile station has been designed for use in all manner of conditions, including darkness. Thus the keypads are often designed to illuminate from within when entries are being made. Because the purpose has been to improve visibility of keys, the lighting is usually uniform to all keys, and has been monochromatic.
Since a hand-held unit, and in particular a mobile phone, must devote space for a 12-key keypad, the room allowed for a display is frequently small, e.g. about 5–6 lines of text. Although a mouse of diminutive proportions could be added using a J-key sensor, fine cursor movement through such a small screen would yield markedly diminished results as compared to use with desktop sized monitors. None-the-less, requiring a user to use a cursor advance function, such as employed by the use of the ‘tab’ key in the popular text browser, LYNX, is inefficient, particularly as the operable choices start to exceed four. This becomes more taxing on the user of a device when a keypad has key-sizes less than a quarter of the area of the DIN-standard form factor of computer keyboards.
Hence, a need exists for a selection method and apparatus to reduce repetitive keystrokes on hand-held devices that provide hyperlinks visible on a display. A need exists to form a visible link between a key on a keypad and a hyperlink on a screen without crowding keys around the display. An ability to obtain greater functionality from a standard key layout is also needed.